Robin Lim: for an egalitarian society

"My mission turned towards the creation of a place where the most deprived women can give birth and where all future mums can survive childbirth. We need an egalitarian society,” explains Robin. “I taught literature for 13 years in Hawaii before coming here. A friend needed someone to teach a group of children. Over time, people came to see me for advice, with the result that I had to throw myself back into my university studies.”

Since then, Robin’s clinics have gradually developed. “We started building the clinic in Aceh at the end of 2004, just after the tsunami, using light material, blue cloth and bamboo sticks. In the beginning, we had about 80 people every morning and 80 to 100 in the evening. It was mainly people suffering serious injuries caused by the tsunami. In total, there have been 4000 births up to now. We have been present in Padang, Aceh of course and Haiti and we have treated a total of around 115,000 patients according to our statistics,” says Robin.

Yet every year the missionary has to fight to find the funds necessary to carry on. “The government gives us licences and authorizations and helps with the papers… but there’s a lack of funds. I’m regularly knocking on the door of the Bill Gates foundation, which as you know specializes in high-tech. But the way we do things is above all in phase with nature, it’s a philosophy that reflects the mentality of the Bali population quite well. The people aren’t always at ease with this ever-changing technology,” explains Robin.